THE 2015 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL CLASSIC • DECEMBER 31, 2015 • ARLINGTON, TEXAS

PRACTICE NOTES

Monday, December 30th, 2013

Mizzou Moves Back to the Practice Field with Morning Workout at AT&T Stadium

Arlington – After enjoying a day away from the field and taking in Sunday night’s Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game, the No. 8 Missouri Tigers were up early Monday morning for a 90-minute workout at AT&T Stadium for the 78th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.

Head coach Gary Pinkel said he was pleased as Mizzou had its most lively prep session so far in North Texas in preparation for the No. 13 Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-2, 7-2 Big 12 Conference).

“We understand that we’ve got a game in four days,” said Pinkel. “The goal at bowl games is to be able to practice, get your focus for practice and get your focus up to play your best game. That’s the goal that we have. Our kids have been good with that all year and, hopefully, they’ll get good at it for this game.”

The Tigers (11-2, 7-1 Southeastern Conference) got back on its normal schedule with that it is normally a “Tuesday” practice. Pinkel said he likes the consistency being shown in their practices as his squad narrows its concentration on the task at hand and keeps its focus on one of the keys areas that could be a part of the storylines of this 78th Classic -- turnovers.

Two of the top teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision in terms of turnover margin, Mizzou entered bowl season ranked sixth with a +1.23 margin with Oklahoma State just slightly ahead, tied for fourth with a +1.25 advantage. Ball security in games, Pinkel added, comes from his team’s emphasis in every practice to protect the football on offense and create turnovers on defense.

“We always do that. It’s non-stop,” said Pinkel. “You have two teams in the top 10 in the nation in turnover margin. That has a lot to do with why we’re both here. That (turnover margin) has been hugely important in their games. They’re really, really good and we understand that. But what we need to focus on is fundamentally doing the right things. It boils down to us playing our best game. We’re responsible for that. If we do that, we’ll have a chance to win the game.”

Following practice, the team conducted its official Media Day session and then took time to reach out to the North Texas community with a visit to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. The Tigers are back on the practice field on Tuesday morning in for a New Year’s Eve session closed to the media and the public.

The 78th AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic is Friday, Jan. 3 on FOX. Airtime is set for 6:30 p.m. CST with kickoff scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Making their fourth appearances as members of FOX’s broadcast crew, Gus Johnson and Charles Davis will describe all the action and will be joined by

Kristina Pink reporting from the sideline. FOX is broadcasting the Classic for the 16th consecutive year.

ESPN Radio returns as the Classic’s national radio partner for a second-straight year. Brad Sham, the “Voice of the Dallas Cowboys,” will partner with Ed Cunningham offering color commentary and Ian Fitzsimmons adding analysis from the sideline to provide the call of the 78th Classic to hundreds of affiliate stations around the country as well as subscribers of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in the United States and Canada.